Veteran left-arm orthodox spinner Utpal Chatterjee picked up five wickets to help Bengal restrict Hyderabad to 223 for seven on the first day of the four-day Elite Group B Ranji Trophy match at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Tuesday.
Electing to bat first, Hyderabad lost four wickets in the morning session, thanks to a fine spell by the Bengal spinners, before Ibrahim Khaleel (50 not out) and Arjun Yadav (45) added 88 valuable runs in the fifth wicket to salvage the situation for the visitors.
With the two looking steady at the crease, Chatterjee gave a further blow to the Hyderabad innings picking up three wickets in quick succession to restrict the visitors to 223 for seven at close.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Khaleel and Vishnu Vardhan Rao (batting 10) were at the crease when stumps were drawn.
Yadav, son of former Test cricketer Shivlal Yadav, played a few shots (six fours and a six) in his innings while Khaleel's 50 came with only three fours in 190 balls.
Earlier, both the teams were boosted by the induction of India-A players - Bengal skipper Rohan Gavaskar and Hyderabad willower A T Rayudu - but the visitors suffered a jolt due to indisposition of their captain Venkatapathy Raju.
Bengal, desperate to cull some points from the crunch tie to save relegation, effected three changes including Gavaskar while Hyderabad inducted Rayudu and Rao in place of Anirudh Singh and Raju.
Chatterjee, who had not been impressive in earlier matches, raised hopes for the hosts on the first day taking five wickets for 44 runs. It was his 30th five wicket haul in Ranji Trophy matches.
